House to Home!

I came across some photos as I was rummaging in the cupboard under the stairs a couple of weeks ago and thought they would make an interesting little post.  I'm hoping you won't notice that you've got 'before and after' pics of a house instead of the promised furniture makeover.

This is Huntsmans Cottage where my OH and I lived when we were first married in 1984 (OH had already lived here for a while with his first wife).  It's a beautiful picturesque cottage in a peaceful country location, although some rooms were quite cold in winter and it needed some modernisation.  With it being a 'tied house' (that is - it came with OH's job and is located on the estate where he works) and a listed building, we were restricted as to what could be done to improve it.  The layout inside left a lot to be desired when you could only get to the bathroom through the kitchen and, there being no door at the back, you had to walk all the way around the house to get to the garden (the green front door you see was not in use).

(If you look closely you can see the children looking out of the bedroom windows)

 When the children came along I felt increasingly isolated here and longed to live back amongst people in the village which was about 3 miles away.  When an opportunity arose to own our own little cottage in the village we jumped at the chance.

(The front of Huntsmans Cottage with DS by the door)

 And this (below) is what we were faced with!!  The house where my father and his brothers and sister were born and grew up which had been empty for many years.  I can hardly believe my grandparents brought up 6 children in this tiny cottage.  Apparently, the older children used to sleep next door at a relative's and they were also quite spread out in age which must have helped.

Planning and paperwork took a while but eventually work began.  There wasn't much left when it was stripped back.  At one stage we nearly lost the side wall on the right too but the builders managed to save it.

It took a couple of years in all but eventually we moved in in 1992 when the children were 4 and 6.

 

And this is how it looks today (the porch was added a couple of years ago).  It's not very different in style because we live in a conservation area and had to keep the general look of the building as it was. My auntie now lives next door, where my great aunt used to live until she died in 1978.  She moved there with my grandmother (who died in 1988 if I remember correctly) from our house about 12 years before we came along.  A little further down the road you can just see the end of my parents house.

I enjoyed this little amble down memory lane. It brought back some lovely memories, such as the the things I have in common with my grandmother.  Apart from living in the same house, we were also both members of the church choir (I still am!), members of the church council and Head Cook at the local school.

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Thank you for the lovely comments recently but I'm afraid I haven't been able to reply to some.  I replied to a few but for others I didn't receive an email so couldn't answer.  I try to answer all comments when you lovely people make the effort to leave them and am disappointed when I can't.  I do appreciate you taking the time to 'connect' as it makes all your blogs become more alive to me (and if you don't have a blog you're still very welcome).

Bye for now

Teresa x